Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage, Ushuaia, Argentina...

It was busy day today! I was up early for Glacier Alley cruising and then off touring in the Ushuaia area. On the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, at the southern tip of South America, sits the Argentinian city of Ushuaia, known as the southernmost city in the world, or sometimes, “the end of the world.” The capital city of the Tierra del Fuego Province, Ushuaia is a tourist hub for southern South America and Antarctica.  The town’s stunning backdrop is the snowcapped Martial Mountain Range of the Andes. Here the dramatic Andes Mountain Chain takes a left hand 90 degree turn at the end of the Beagle Channel running east to west along the border between Chile and Argentina. Everywhere you turn is literally a “National Geographic Moment.” Our guide and driver Nicolas picked us up at the ship, even though it was raining, the weather did not stop us from heading to Tierra Fuego National Park. On the way to the park, we passed the world’s most southern golf course and the End of the World Train station. After entering the park, we visited several attractions. I followed the Mirador Lapataia trail for about a half a mile, seeing birds, trees, vegetation.  At the end of the trail, I joined back up with Nicholas, Ann and Cathy at the Lapataia Bay. At Lapataia Bay we walked along the boardwalk until we arrived at the lookout point with a panoramic view of the bay. The highlight for me was photographing a seal catching a very large salmon for dinner...  Nature is amazing! At the park, this is the most southern point of the longest motorway on the planet, the Pan-American Highway. In other words, this is the farthest south anyone can drive in the Western Hemisphere. We got a photo in front of the iconic sign.  Before leaving the park, we stopped at Lake Acigami for a nice view of this freshwater lake. Our last stop in the park was Zaratiegui inlet, to visit where the famous End of the World Post Office. Returning to Ushuaia we had a tour of the area similar to the Favelas of Rio where the squatters have built homes high above the city with the best views in town by far. Nicolas took us downtown so we could do some shopping. We then went to see the Ushuaia sign and I was able to get a good photo of the St. Christopher shipwreck and the Zaandam. Nicholas dropped us at the ship. We had an excellent day in Ushuaia thanks to Nicolas. Now, we head to Cape Horn followed by Antarctica…